Those of us struggling with anxiety on a regular basis are always looking for most effective, quick to learn and easy to implement tools and techniques that will help us reduce anxiety instantly, enabling us to soften the grasp anxiety gets on us, high-jacking our bodies, paralyzing our willpower, kidnapping our minds.
With our hearts regularly racing, lungs pushing double-time, knees shaking, stomach clenching, throat constricting, sensation of throwing up, we feel terrible.
We desperately want to get back to our calm and relaxed selves, to reduce anxiety instantly, without drawing anyone’s attention to what is going on inside us.
Fortunately, if we understand how anxiety functions, we can outsmart it and utilize quick and easy ways to reduce anxiety instantly.
In this article we will explore 5 evidence-based scientifically proven ways to reduce anxiety instantly. We will also reference scientific articles that support the efficacy of these strategies.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a perfectly normal and natural mechanism designed to protect us from dangerous situations. It is the nature’s way of ensuring the highest probability of our species’ survival.
Without anxiety we would find ourselves in potentially unsafe situations, completely oblivious, unguarded, and unprepared. Our experience would probably be a lot more pleasant and relaxed if anxiety were not in our nature, but we, humans, probably wouldn’t live for very long.
Anxiety serves an important purpose of keeping us safe. It only becomes a problem if the level of anxiety we are experiencing is much more severe than is warranted by the reality of the situation, to the extent that it interferes with our lives and prevents us from successfully functioning in the world.
We don’t want to eliminate anxiety completely, we just want to develop the skills to lower its intensity and make it easier to manage, especially once we realize that we are reacting to a false alarm – the situation is not truly dangerous, only perceived by our bodies as such.
How is anxiety triggered?
Our organism registers a perceived threat. It doesn’t even have to be real. It may be a stick that looks like a snake, a tree branch knocking on our window, a person at the grocery store glancing at us for just a fraction of a second longer than ordinary.
Our body starts mobilizing internal resources to defend itself, before we even become consciously aware of what exactly the perceived threat is. There is no time to pause, investigate, and fully evaluate the situation. That would cause a significant delay and, in the event that the danger were real, risk wasting precious milliseconds, which could mean the difference between life and death.
When alerted to a potential threat, our body is programmed to give us the highest chance of survival.
The defense mechanism is initiated by an adrenaline rush to prepare our body to run or fight.
Heart rate and breathing are speeding up. Digestive system is tasked with making us as light as possible to give us an advantage in running and fighting by expelling anything it can, either by throwing up, peeing, or diarrhea. Our knees are shaking (preparing to run), our fists are tight (preparing to fight). All this activity is generating a lot of heat, so our cooling mechanism must also comes online in the form of sweat. Functions that are irrelevant in the moment are turned off to save energy.
With that intense level of preparation we have a good chance of making it when the danger is real.
However, if the snake turned our to be a stick, we might feel really stupid and annoyed for all that needless jumping, running, and sweating. If this happens to us frequently and in a wide variety of different situations, we will justifiably get frustrated with our organisms for constantly misjudging the risk, restricting our actions, and hijacking our bodies for extended periods of time.
We can think of anxiety as our over-protective parent, that is coddling us just a little too much with the best intentions of keeping us safe. It is trying to protect us by not letting us go out and experience the world, afraid that we might make mistakes and we might get hurt. If it could bundle us in bubble wrap and prevent us from leaving the house, it would.
How does anxiety dissipate?
Exactly the opposite chain of events need to play out for our anxiety to dissipate. Our organisms need to register a felt sense of safety (which is more than just an absence of threat). If we can figure out how to send a message of safety to our senses, we can take back control of how we feel, both physically and emotionally.
We take back the power to decide in what situations we no longer want to feel anxious and override any defenses our body wants to put up. To do that we need to stand up to the physiological and conditioned responses that were once keeping us safe but have outlived their usefulness and no longer serve us.
Teenagers who feel held back by their overprotective parents often have to stand up to them and say: “It’s OK, mom. You can relax now. You can let go. I can handle it. I got it from here.” Just like with an actual overprotective parent, standing up to our own anxious response is uncomfortable. There will be a lot of resistance. We will most likely need to repeat the message multiple time before it sinks in and the parent (or our body’s anxiety response) lets go.
We take control of our anxious response by communicating to ourselves that we are indeed safe.
Can we actually do that?
Absolutely.
The body and the brain are interconnected and are constantly communicating back and forth to get the most accurate information. This is great news for us, because that means we can use our brains to send messages of safety to our bodies, and we can also use our bodies to send messages of safety to our brains. That gives us plenty of opportunities to intervene and redirect the processes that our organism initiated, erroneously thinking that it is keeping us safe.
What can we control?
You might argue that we don’t have any control of the situation when our bodies are freaking out. We are running on autopilot at the mercy of our system. It feels like we are powerless to resist.
Even though it does feel like we are helpless in that moment, this perception is not accurate.
We do have a significant amount of control in any situation.
This is the case because our organisms have both voluntary and involuntary functions.
We don’t direct our hearts to beat, diaphragm to contract, sweat glands to produce, blood to circulate through our bodies. All these functions and more happen involuntarily, outside of and independent of our conscious control.
On the other hand, there are many aspects of our being that we can control, at least to some extent, right in the moment.
Specifically, we can consciously and intentionally direct our thoughts, the focus of our attention (sight, sound, touch, smell, awareness), imagination, the movement of our bodies. If we befriend and engage these voluntary functions, we will be able to send the messages of safety to our system in order to self-regulate and self-soothe.
Breathing is a unique and powerful tool that we will be relying on heavily in our mission to reduce anxiety instantly, because it is both voluntary and involuntary. We don’t need to think about breathing. Our body knows it needs to keep moving air in and out to keep us alive. In that sense breathing function is involuntary.
Fortunately, we also have the power to intentionally slow down or speed up our breathing, to breathe into our tummies or our chest, to hold our breath for a certain amount of time, to breathe through the mouse or the nose. We will be using this capability to our advantage.
Anxiety is like a spiral.
When we are experiencing an anxiety attack, our brains are responding to the alarms sounding from our bodies and in turn our body is reacting to the danger signals from our brains. The brain and the body reactions feed each other and build on each other, escalating quickly, creating a closed loop, making us feel like prisoners.
If we chose to wait the unnerving feelings out with no intervention, the anxiety attack may take hours or even days to fully dissipate.
Unless we intervene.
All we have to do is to exercise some control of voluntary functions to mindfully insert ourselves into that feedback loop between the brain and the body. We simply need to gently and confidently redirect the run-away process instead of getting caught up in it.
In this article we will learn to reduce anxiety instantly and effectively by sending messages to our body and our mind, convincing them that we are indeed safe.
We press the stop button and override any potential false alarm and sense of danger that our organisms have erroneously picked up in our environment while trying to protect us from harm.
Even though our stress hormones will not dissipate instantaneously as soon as we feel safe, our heart and breathing rates will come down pretty quickly, our stomach muscles will relax, and we will start to perceive a sense of calm and peace.
By practicing the five simple techniques described in this article, we will learn how to start reversing the course of our body’s anxious response and getting it moving in the right direction.
Even though there is no magic solution to instantaneously stop the anxiety, below are 5 easy and effective strategies we can use to reduce anxiety instantly.
Reduce Anxiety Instantly – Strategy #1: Give Yourself A Hug
This might sound ridiculous in its simplicity, but giving yourself a hug is an amazingly effective for most people to reduce anxiety instantly for an obvious reason. The beauty of this tool is that we can do it literally anywhere, while sitting, standing, laying down. Nobody will notice. Nobody has to know.
This strategy works so effectively to reduce anxiety instantly because most of us are biologically and environmentally conditioned to feel safe when we are supported by a caregiver. We feel safe when we are held.
Luckily our senses either don’t care or can’t tell the difference whether this support is coming from an external source. Our nervous system will typically perceive a hug as comforting and immediately start to relax.
While giving ourselves a hug with the amount pressure that feels just right for us we are actively making contact with the skin which is our container and the largest organ in our body. The receptors on our skin quickly relay the message of safety to our brain.
It’s amazing how easy it is to tap into our mammalian care-giving system and change our biochemical experience. Our anxiety will instantly start to diminish.
We are physiologically wired to feel a calming sensation from physical touch.[efn_note]Kale, S. (2020, May 25). The Neuroscience of Why You Could Really Use a Hug Right Now. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/the-neuroscience-of-why-you-could-really-use-a-hug-right-now/[/efn_note]
For an extra bonus, research demonstrates that crossing our arms around the mid-line of our body has a pain-relieving effect. [efn_note]Gallace, A.a; Torta, D. M.E.b,c; Moseley, G. L.d; Iannetti, G. D.b,* The analgesic effect of crossing the arms, Pain: June 2011 – Volume 152 – Issue 6 – p 1418-1423 doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2011.02.029[/efn_note]. Availability of hugs is also associated with higher self-rated health in later life.[efn_note]
Rogers-Jarrell T, Eswaran A, Meisner BA. Extend an Embrace: The Availability of Hugs Is an Associate of Higher Self-Rated Health in Later Life. Research on Aging. September 2020. doi:10.1177/0164027520958698[/efn_note]
There is no right or wrong way to give yourself a hug.
Here is an effective way to give yourself a hug that works well for most people:
- Put one hand under the opposite armpit.
- Put the other hand on the outside of our opposite arm, just below the shoulder.
- Put enough pressure to feel a soothing sensation of holding and support.
- Squeeze as much as little as feels comfortable.
Now let’s gently close our eyes or relax our gaze, if that feels safe, and really tune into our sensations. We are sending our whole body a message of being held, safe, cared for, cherished, protected. We can even rock from side to side a tiny bit to enhance the effect.
If we are truly feeling so comfortable and relaxed, there must be no threat, no reason for anxiety to mobilize its defenses. The nervous systems relaxes, our whole organism starts to calm down.
Try giving yourself a hug for a few seconds or minutes, you’ll be surprised how quickly anxiety loosens its grip!
Modification for kids:
Little kids, as young as toddlers, can be taught to give themselves a hug to self-soothe when distressed. Ideally they will be held by a caregiver, but it is good to have a backup option for the situations when the caregiver is not immediately available, such as in a school setting.
Reduce Anxiety Instantly – Strategy #2: Ground Yourself
When we are anxious our thoughts are usually racing with catastrophic “what-if” scenarios. In an anxious state we are living in the future and seeking to control the future. This is a failing proposition.
The best way to stop the downward spiral and to reduce anxiety instantly is to bring ourselves back from the future into “here and now” by literally grounding ourselves in the present moment.
Our goal is to intentionally and deliberately re-orient our senses and awareness to the space our bodies physically occupy in the currently reality. We focus our attention on the present.
Another way to look at this is that during an anxiety episode we become stuck in our heads. If we could only successfully mobilize that stuck energy and direct into into our feet, we would reduce anxiety instantly.
This grounding technique is really easy to do and we don’t even have to rearrange our body to do it.
- Mindfully and intentionally let our feet touch the ground.
- Notice the sensation of our feet making contact with the floor.
- Feel the stability of the ground beneath our feet, the security of earth supporting us.
- Allow the ground to fully support us.
To do this technique we can sit or stand. We can also easily adapt this technique to practicing while laying down, walking, or even doing the dishes. The only requirement is that we bring our focus our feet. Buddhist mindfulness exercise of walking as if we are kissing the earth would achieve the same effect, because we are similarly redirecting our awareness to the moment and sensation of our foot touching the ground with every step we take.
The only prop required is the stable ground beneath our feet, or the support under our whole body if laying down.
We feel grounded and supported. Our minds stop racing into the future and become centered in the present.
Modification for kids:
Little kids can be invited to bring their attention to their feet by stomping, running in place, or jumping. Ask them how their feet feel, where do they feel sensations in their feet, does one foot feel more than the other, what color is the feeling in their feet, is the ground soft or hard, hot or cold, etc. Kids can hop like a bunny or a frog, stomp like an animal, crouch like a tiger. Let them make up their own movements. Do it with them, make it silly, make it fun.
Reduce Anxiety Instantly – Strategy #3: Breathe Into Your Belly
A lot of people have heard that it helps to focus on their breathing to lower anxiety. They often dismiss this advice, saying that they have already tried it and it doesn’t work for them, that it actually makes them feel worse.
It is true. The vague instruction to simply focus on our breath during an anxiety attack is misleading and might exacerbate the feeling of anxiety.
Why is that?
In the middle of an anxiety attack we are already breathing a lot. Our breathing is fast and shallow. If we now turn our focus to our breathing, we will most likely start to hyperventilate. We will feel a sensation of shortness of breath or inability to take in a full breath, which is really scary and will in turn aggravate our anxiety instead of reducing it. This is definitely not what we want.
Remember, our goal is to send our body and our brain a message that we are perfectly safe.
How do humans breathe when they are safe? How do children breathe when they are sleeping?
When we feel safe and relaxed, our breathing is deep and slow.
We can observe a sleeping child and notice their belly going up and down gently and rhythmically. Their chest is barely moving. Their breathing feels effortless. As soon as we can achieve this type of breathing, our nervous system will get the message that there is no danger, that anxiety response is no longer required, that mobilization of our defense mechanisms can be called off.
To achieve this calming effect and reduce anxiety instantly, we need to not just generally bring our attention to our breathing, but specifically and intentionally focus on breathing into and out of our bellies.
- Focus our awareness on the area around our belly button.
- Mentally watch our belly move in and out if we are sitting, or up and down if we are laying down.
- Keep our chest still and just notice as our tummy naturally inflates and deflates.
To ensure we are doing this correctly we can put one hand on our belly and another hand on our chest. We want the hand on the chest to stay still and the one on the belly to go for a ride, in and out, up and down.
As easy as that. Minimal effort required on your part.
Just a redirection of the focus of our attention. Do this for a few breaths or for a few minutes.
Try belly breathing while giving yourself a hug! You will be surprised by how quickly your body relaxes.
Modification for kids:
Little kids, as young as toddlers, can be taught to breathe into their belly. The best way to teach belly breathing technique to a young child is to tell them you are going to play a fun game. Have them lay down and put a little stuffy toy on their tummy (let them pick a toy). Then ask them to take the toy for a ride by making it move up and down on their belly.
Not only will the kids learn belly-breathing, there will be a lot of giggling as well (which is also great for reducing anxiety). Especially it will be a lot of fun if you are laying down next to them and modeling belly breathing with a stuffy on your tummy!
Reduce Anxiety Instantly – Strategy #4: Exhale, Exhale, Exhale
Belly breathing by itself can be extremely effective, but we can take it further by turning out focus to extending the exhale, making it longer, getting as much air as possible out. Once we get the air completely out, the inhale will be automatic and natural.
We don’t need to think about inhaling at all. Only exhale.
Pretend that our belly is a balloon filled with air. While keeping the chest as still as possible, we watch our bellies inflating when air goes in and deflating when air goes out.
We exhale intentionally, going longer then our body would want to when we feel anxious. We are letting all the air out of our imaginary balloon. Our belly button keeps reaching towards the back of the spine.
- Keep exhaling, exhaling, exhaling.
- Keep reaching the belly button to the spine. Keep reaching. Keep reaching.
- Gently let go and allow a natural inhale.
- Repeat.
It might help to exhale three times for every in-breath to make sure we completely empty the lungs. Our lungs will automatically take a natural gentle inhale to refill, which signals for us to exhale again.
It helps to focus our awareness on the breathing process, on the sensations, ignoring any chatter in our heads. Once we get the breathing under control, the sense of perceived threat dissipates.
We are no longer anxious.
We feel safe and grounded here and now.
So far we have three effective tools which we can combine or use independently to reduce anxiety instantly: 1) give yourself a hug, 2) breathe into your belly, 3) exhale.
Modification for kids:
Little kids, as young as toddlers, can be taught to focus on the exhale. Of course, we would want to turn it into a game and use props. Blowing bubbles is all about exhale. So is blowing pinwheels. Pretending to blow out birthday candles. Blowing through a straw to race pom-poms. Anything that involves blowing air out works great!
And don’t forget to make it super fun by practicing alongside them and making silly faces along the way!
Reduce Anxiety Instantly – Strategy #5: Tell Yourself You Are Safe
So far we have three techniques where we are using our body’s voluntary functions to communicate to our brain that we are not in any imminent danger.
We also have an opportunity to use our brains to communicate to our bodies. Our brains can talk to our bodies to let them know it was a false alarm and it is OK for our bodies to let the guard down and relax.
One way to do it is to tell ourselves that we are safe at this moment.
Notice, that we are not saying that we are always safe or that we are perfectly safe. We are only stating that we are safe at this specific moment in time.
- Say to yourself: “At this moment I am safe.”
- Repeat.
(If that is not a true statement and you are truly in a dangerous situation at this moment, then anxiety is your friend, you want that adrenaline, heart pumping, and hyper-alert state so that you can most effectively take action).
Modification for kids:
We can definitely teach older kids, who have enough self-awareness to know that they are not in actual danger, to whisper “I am safe.” For younger kids, we can model by looking getting down to their level, looking into their eyes, saying gently and softly “You are safe at this moment.”
Summary of 5 Strategies to Reduce Anxiety Instantly
The beauty of these five anxiety-reduction techniques is that they are so simple to learn and so helpful to reduce anxiety instantly. As we have seen, even a toddler can be taught to give themselves a hug and modeled how to exhale (the hug from the caregiver is ideal but it is still valuable to learn the self-soothing skills for situations when the caregiver is not immediately available). Each strategy is effective on its own and even more powerful in combination with the other ones.
Here is the recap:
- Self-hug
- Grounding
- Attention on the belly
- Exhale
- Safety Statement
How to Maximize Chances of Success
Like we discussed in 5 Strategies to Improve Mental Health, it is important to remember that our nervous system learns by experience and repetition. Our organism learns by actually taking actions to reduce anxiety, not simply learning about it, or intellectually understanding the concept of how one would go about reducing it, or liking the idea of being able to do it.
Just thinking about reducing anxiety is not enough, we have to take action.
It is scientifically proven that our bodies and our brains find it easier to do things we are familiar with. If this routine becomes second nature for us, our organism will start regulating itself with the first breath or as soon as we put wrap ourselves in a hug.
Remember that having the intention to reduce anxiety instantly will not help us reduce anxiety. We actually have to practice the techniques regularly to feel the benefit, to get the results we want.
The more we practice the strategies to reduce anxiety instantly, the easier self-regulating and self-soothing will become for us.
For the best outcome we must be consistent and committed to any approach that we take if we want it to work quickly and reliably every time.
It is also important to experiment. We are all unique individuals and need to figure out what works most effectively to reduce anxiety instantly specifically for us. Then just do more of that.
We are committed to sharing the best mental health self-help resources with you on this site, but if you need individualized support from an anxiety counselor, please reach out. We are here to help!